


Reading the Love in His Eyes

by curlynerd



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Baby Jack Kline, Domestic Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29204463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curlynerd/pseuds/curlynerd
Summary: Cas, newly back from the Empty, stumbles across a sweet scene of Dean caring for baby Jack in the middle of the night.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 165





	Reading the Love in His Eyes

It’s dark in the bunker, the war room lit by only the soft yellow glow of the table. Even though the bedrooms are far from the front door, Cas descends the stairs as quietly as he can. Dean warned him babies are easy to wake up, and he would hate for the echoes of his footsteps to somehow rouse tiny Jack.

The plastic bag in his hand rustles softly as he walks, weighed down by a new canister of formula that couldn’t wait until morning. Cas carries it to the kitchen. He comes up short at the doorway, startled to see another figure in there, but he quickly realizes it’s Dean and Jack. Dean is leaning back as comfortably as the stiff kitchen chairs allow, with his feet propped up on another, cradling little Jack in his arms while the baby suckles down a midnight snack. Dean’s eyes are half open, almost dozing, but when Jack’s little arm escapes from his swaddling blanket and flails against the bottle, Dean is right there, carefully pulling Jack’s arm back down as he holds him. 

Dean smiles down at Jack with such softness that it makes Cas’ breath catch in his throat. His heart swells to bursting. He has loved Dean for a very long time, with all his heart and all his being, but in that moment, watching Dean care for Cas’ own infant son, Cas has never loved him more.

His chest aches with longing, sharp and overwhelming. Cas thought he was past this. Past the days where his feelings for Dean were so strong they threatened to drown him. Past the days when he ever expected more from Dean than the friendship and companionship he was offered. Past the days when simply loving Dean was not enough.

But that was before seeing Dean like this.

“Dean,” Cas says softly. Words swell inside him, the ones he always locks up so tightly, and in a rush of panic he fears he might actually say them aloud, confess to Dean how much he loves him. He clears his throat, forces them back down. “I have more formula,” he says instead as he sets the bag on the counter.

When Dean looks up, the same gentle, loving smile is still on his face, and Cas’ knees feel weak. He lets his hand fall to the counter and grips it briefly to steady himself. “Good. Dunno if he’s going through a growth spurt or what, but this is his second bottle since you left,” Dean says, exhausted but fond.

“You take very good care of him.” Cas stands beside Dean, smiling at Jack. He is astoundingly small, little fingers curled so tightly on his little hand, little nose smushed up against the bottle nipple, making tiny little cooing grunts as he drinks. 

“Yeah, well, this ain’t my first rodeo.” Dean looks down at Jack’s wide blue eyes and huffs a small laugh. “Hell, it ain’t even my first time taking care of a little monster baby.”

“He’s not a monster,” Cas says, but the warmth in Dean’s eyes as he smiles at Jack tells him not to take offense.

Dean rolls his eyes a little. “Well whatever he is, he’s yours. Look. He’s even got your eyes.” His smile morphs into a playful grin, and despite how tired he looks, his face glows with affection. For Jack, for Cas himself, Cas isn’t sure, but seeing Dean like this, something inside him snaps, and he can’t hold it in any longer.

Cas leans over and presses a gentle kiss to the top of Dean’s head, letting his lips linger in the softness of his hair. Dean looks up at him, startled and confused, but Cas only smiles as he straightens.

“Thank you. For caring for him.” Cas gently strokes Jack’s head. It’s dwarfed by his large palm. Cas fights his own thoughts, his own fears of how Dean will react, but he knows he has to keep going. “You know, in the Empty–where I was when I died…” Dean’s face clouds over at the reminder, but Cas keeps speaking. “In the Empty, angels dream of all of their regrets. Do you know what I dreamed of? What I regretted the most?”

Dean looks down at Jack. Cas can only guess that he thinks it’s not being there for Jack. Or dying in the first place.

Cas shakes his head. “You, Dean.” Dean jerks his head up. His expression jumps, from confusion to hope to suspicion. “I regretted not telling you what I should have confessed years ago.” He takes a deep breath. “Dean, I love you.”

The words hang, heavy and beautiful in the air. Dean’s eyes go wide with shock. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out, and the silence between them lingers. Cas does his best to weather the storm of emotions inside his heart, but the longer Dean goes without saying anything, the more his doubts crawl their way up his throat.

Jack pops off his now empty bottle, and starts making a string of weak, disgruntled noises. “Here. Let me.” Cas gently eases Jack into his arms and props him up against his shoulder, carefully burping him the way Dean showed him. The distraction is a welcome one. “I can take it from here,” he continues, now desperate to avoid whatever reaction Dean is gearing up toward. He begins to turn away.

The kitchen chair scrapes as Dean hastily rises to his feet and plants a kiss on his lips.

It’s clumsy, catching only the corner of Cas’ mouth. Cas freezes, and the second kiss lands true, Dean’s soft lips catching against his own, sweet and tender and hesitant. “Dean…” Cas breathes into the air they share.

Dean pulls back just enough that Cas can read his eyes. “Cas, I…” he begins, but can’t continue. His lower lip wavers. His grass green eyes flit from one emotion to the next, overwhelmed, unable to find the words to convey everything he’s feeling.

But Cas can read it on his face. Desperation. Hope. Longing. Uncertainty.

Love.

Dean’s eyes silently plead for Cas to see it all and understand. Dean may not be able to speak his truth the way Cas can, but Cas sees everything he wants to say written all over his face, shining out from his beautiful heart. His own heart sings at the miracle he has been blessed with, and his smile is one of adoration.

Cas answers him in the language Dean speaks best, and he kisses him softly.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally inspired by a little post by tumblr user marcusantonius about Cas seeing Dean feeding baby Jack in the middle of the night, and it was a lovely idea, so I turned it into a fanfic :) I posted to tumblr earlier today, and now it's up for AO3.


End file.
